Oświęcim, Poland: Auschwitz-Birkenau - Rick Steves’ Europe

[@chad24ist]

I sent my son on a school trip to this place even though i could little aford it. I am still paying for it. I am from England and I hope my son will realise that his grandfather did his bit to defeat evil. RIP the victims you will never be forgotten.

[@76monikaW]

Thank you for doing that. I’m certain he will not forget.

[@smiffy1071]

I visited this place last November, on rememberance sunday. it was difficult to come to terms with my own feelings, especially walking around Birkenau or Brzezinka, as it's called in Polish. There was so much I didn't have time to see, so I will be making another trip there.

[@technoshock11]

Imagine this. You live there (in Oświęcim). You work (or spend the weekend, or both) in Krakow. You don't have a car (or you can't/don't want to own/drive one), so you take the train to go to Krakow, and back. I wonder how you would feel on the way back home every day. When you arrive at your destination in the evening (after a 1h30min ride according to the PKP website), you're happy to go home (or you go buy some groceries, or have a walk, or whatever), while those who did the same trip 70 years ago were living their last hours or days. When you have to explain to your friends that you often do this trip. Must not be pleasant at all.

[@shutup2751]

so many parts of Poland were turned upside down in the war that most Poles probably just don't think anything of it, heck Warsaw was completely gone when the war ended

[@KasiaLw]

Some years ago I was there. It is very hard to describe all my feelings. Perhaps, it is really saint place. We should not have to forget this lesson of history.

[@ChillLemur]

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[@Julienmcgowan]

I have been twice and hope to go a third time this year. I take a lot of my strength in life and my humility from learning about what these hard working and honest people went through and feel very lucky, even in today's tough world.

[@XXXCompAssesXXX]

Thank you for being one of the few Americans in the world that do not make fun of Polish people and their country, but rather congratulate it and give it compliments. Thank you for that.

[@ChillLemur]

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[@76monikaW]

My grandma was taken from Poland to Nazi work camp as a teen. She was a very scarred woman. I visited back maybe 30 years ago and it was traumatic to see.

[@EffyPrims]

Im from czech republic...it is next to germany and poland..and I was be there with my school...I will never forget...

[@ChillLemur]

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[@divofan]

every denier should visit and see with his/her own eyes.

[@Davidmp]

Jolande de proost That might not help with most of them. The deniers are too fixated on their lies, so they refuse to see the truth.

[@Robotdrummerzzk]

I want to visit. Must be a tough place to walk around with all the feelings and emotions though.

[@ChillLemur]

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[@cherylstevens4717]

I want to come here and see auschwitz and birkenau for my own perspective.

[@groovastagee4040]

I'm going next year with my school. If it makes me have chills now and brings a tear to my eye, I have no idea what I'll do there.

[@ChillLemur]

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[@futurextechnology]

R.I.P Grandad you will never be forgotten xoxox

[@zerosparky9510]

thanks for posting this.

[@derisleybrittain]

excellent quality

[@birdnighter2be]

Having been born during the war years, i was taught early on of Man's inhumanity to Man Until I visited this sacred place in August, i was not aware of how true that statement is. Lest we forget they are remembered. How very sad

[@quasarone3083]

Sacred place is a bit inappropriate

[@najjasniejszarzeczpospolit6167]

Wchat is Nazi regime? Im Polish. Nobody in the war never call Germans ,,nazi". Only west Europe use this strange verbs. In East Europe we call them just Germans.

[@MissusChanandlerBong]

That is because in Eastern Europe, you are misinformed... Not all Germans were nazis... some of the first people killed were German disabled people & mentally ill people... along with political prisoners...

[@CountGrishnaak]

If you are interested in probing an encapsulated article on the severity of this particular history simply google: "Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles"

[@JLewis237420]

Very nice video, good info.

[@stiopanstefan3083]

please add to your topic that it is German Nazi Camp in Oświęcim. I saw in your comments that some people did not know who was the bad side in this war. And thinks that Poles was killing in thoose camps which is horrible mistake of your topic...Because you did not put any German word in name of this video and it must be!!! Peace do not be ignorant

[@MissusChanandlerBong]

Aushwitz is a German name.... 😅 Oswiecim is the Polish name Also some Poles were complicit in the nazi crimes, let's not forget that 😮

[@Julia-ib8ss]

Been there very horrifying but very educational

[@cherylstevens4717]

Julia sorry if i am asking a ridiculous question but how did being at auschwitz make you feel?

[@PaleHearse]

The eugenics movement started in England.. as I recall.. in the late 1800's and quickly moved to the US. The Germans simply did what Germans are VERY good at.. industrialization. It's one thing to envision a car.. It's another thing to actually build one.. and a COMPLETELY different thing to build... lots of them. Fight the urge to tie ideas to any given culture. Religious dogma fares no better in this either.

[@tajona]

1 was there last week.........

[@galinapoliantseva6750]

Как страшным сон...но это все случилось с нашими родными ..как может человек быть таким жестоким ..увы может..остоется только помянуть всех казнённых и умерших..надеясь что такое зверство не повториться...

[@izabelar.6807]

First of all, this is German's camp in Poland. Yes, it means they all were Nazis. No excuses.

[@cimmerianpraetor]

Rick I have noticed that in all your videos (that I've seen so far) you are carefully avoiding putting the words "Nazi" and "German" into the same sentence. I understand that a tourist guide is not meant to make any political statements, but at least when commenting from places like Auschwitz, it should be remembered that Nazis are not just an evil force of past; especially with current political gains of extremists and neonazis in Germany (or i.e. Hungary).

[@andrewbennett6089]

I feel Rick does not want to connect Germany today and Nazis. I still meet people that are upset if I speak in a German accent because they think of Nazism.

[@mabeyvader2000]

That's soooooooooooooooooooooo sad

[@muiroford1]

4,000 per day. How much fuel was used for cremation?

[@zcs04192011]

What's the difference?

[@geordiejones2]

It was war, war has victims ???

[@khi590]

yes - and for not to despair - we should help those who live on edge today - otherwise we cry crocodile tears, not honest

[@ChillLemur]

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[@webusecom]

They were Germans, that's true but aside from that they were another thing that concerns us all, they were humans.

Thank God I'm Christian

[@craigdixon7416]

How are German children tought about there own history in school. In Britain we're tought about empire and slavery and how very much it is entrenched our country's past. I wonder how the German youth are educated in this part of their countries history, do they try to justify it or gloss over it or starkly face it and hopefully learn from it. I suspect its a combination of all three.

[@Felix-kc5tx]

I know this comment is quite old, but I can assure you no teacher in German schools tries to justify the horrors of the Nazis and the Holocaust. Why are you making these assumptions? WW2 and the Nazi Regime are one of the, if not the biggest topic in German history classes. It is important to understand history in order to not make the same mistakes again.

[@alejoh3179]

Awesome

[@YaleinPrague]

What a grotesque and macabre vacation destination. It should be plowed under.

[@dpjbdpjb]

if you do that, they will not make MONEY

[@LeszekImielski]

The arbait macht frei is a german inscription

[@rickbar123]

More people need to visit because fascism is alive and well. The Anti-Labor mindset has made a full comeback.

[@IjazOmnid]

Not all people were cremated. Most people were burned.

[@eli4875]

Well that basically is the same thing

[@rensdebaas]

@kamilede With all respect, if you look at it that way, your comment could be offensive to the Germans of today. This was done by Nazis, not plain Germans.

[@musali1194]

rick steves pourquoi vous ne faites pas de documentaires sur l'ALGERIE et le genocide de l'armée française du 08 mai 1945 a Kherrata 45 000 morts en 01 jour et 1,5 millions de morts au total au 05 juillet 1962

[@hamlerkorm5342]

na szczęście polska jest wolna od niewoli x👮x germany

[@shoukatlashari5701]

Good sir

[@ania2K11]

OMG! I was there few years ago for visiting

[@ChillLemur]

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[@bapechile]

We were watching other videos, and I showed my mom this one, she was like "wow what pretty brick buildings!", and then you Auschwitz and she was in shock, she's a saint and didn't mean any harm lol.

[@ChillLemur]

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[@robertsander8509]

It repeats itself all the timeRick-Stalin,Mao,Pol Pot,Pinochet,Sadam…..

[@albert7224]

This is Germany

[@bxccaphanaf7754]

It's not

[@ericmendenhall5950]

uneducated

[@albert7224]

Germany nazist

[@sandra4966]

It's Poland 🙄

[@air2091]

Sandra but the crimes were by both poles and Germans, mainly Germans

[@mademoiselledelaforet6789]

so do Germans and polish people get along?

[@whatfandom6965]

Arine Mboma yes

[@sandra4966]

Arine Mboma depends on the person obviously but many poles don't like the Germans over all for a lot of hystorical reasons

[@dracov6664]

They came to terms? Maybe together murdering people? I think in the intervals when they were murdered by the Germans. Where'd they come from such idiots that say so?

[@nazarosetrov63]

He sounds canadian

[@mileymodo]

This is absolutely not cool:///

[@calebd90]

yeah freedom of speech is great.

[@air2091]

What did you want to say?

[@heavenlygreen3392]

❤

[@hermanmunster714]

Salomon Morel butcher of NKVD given shelter in Israel?

[@maryshaffer8474]

In US, young people busy destroying anything from past so we can forget.

[@krzysiopapi45]

Byłem, takie bajki opowiadają i każą jeśli ktos w nie nie wierzy....

[@Dikranovski]

True.Because Nazi's were made up of Germans but there's a big difference between an average German,the army,and the Nazi's.I tend to divide them in debates according to the amount of actions they took against enslaved populations.

[@laurabekala6344]

JEDWABNE MASSACRE - WIKIPEDIA, KIELCE MASSACRE - WIKIPEDIA...

[@ivanbohun8377]

WOLYn massacre wikipedia Katyn Massacre wikipedia

[@erinzarnova8978]

@@ivanbohun8377 LET'S FOCUS FIRTS ON THE GENOCIDES LIKE THESE IN JEDWABNE AND KIELCE

[@wytworniaboza7843]

Niestety ;p

[@gsosenko]

Ha, just what Australia is becoming now

[@SimonHaubjerg]

@whitesox2005ify Lol me to!